Our History text was taken from the pamphlet
The Old German Meeting House, written by Margaret Rawstron
and published in 2007 by the Ladies Auxilliary of the German Protestant
Society, and has been used by permission.

The Old German Meetinghouse is believed to be as old as any
church in Maine. It was built in 1772 by a group of Reformed
Lutherans on the eastern bank of the Medomak River. At this
time it was just an austere frame house which had been constructed
and owned by thirty-two German Lutherans. Many years passed
before the plain interior showed the finish that is seen today,
with its square-benched pews, galleries and towering wineglass-shaped
pulpit.

It
is necessary to evaluate the importance of this starkly, simple
building —
The Old German Church —
in the history of the Broad Bay Plantation. It was the center
of these Lutheran families —
their church, their community center. It was a powerful force
in their lives. Sunday was devoted to church services. There
was one in the morning with a break at noon for families to
gather in groups for a noon meal, then back into the church
for an afternoon service. The families' lives, births, weddings,
deaths were all shared here with each other.

English kings gave grants of large tracts of land along the
Atlantic Seaboard. General Samuel Waldo amassed a large tract
covering the valleys between the two great rivers of Maine,
the Penobscot and the Kennebec. He felt this would be an ideal
region for colonizing. One could find water power, water transportation,
much needed in this wilderness as a means of communication.
Here was an unlimited supply of virgin forests, fertile soil
and an abundance of fish. All of these were valuable assets
in deciding the suitability of areas for settlements. General
Waldo chose this area for his first settlement.

Waldo's
first move was to go to the Black Forest in the Rhine Region
of Germany. He felt these people would be receptive to the
idea as theirs was a destitute and depopulated section of
Germany. Furthermore as Lutherans they were mercilessly persecuted
because of their religion. He promised each one a large tract
of land, an amount of money to help them get started, a food
supply and a shelter for the first winter. In addition there
would be tracts of land set aside for school and churches.

Much to the German's dismay, a good many of these promises
were not kept. The first winter was one of untold hardships,
struggling for the barest needs - food, clothing, and shelter.
To add to this they were harrassed by the Indians who pillaged
their meager supplies, destroyed their homes and wiped out
whole families. These people from Germany were of great strength
of character overcoming unbelievable hardships. The whole
history of this settlement was achieved through their courage
and religious beliefs. The settling of Waldoborough, history
says, was largely done by the Lutherans under the guidance
of Waldo.

The
first meetinghouse at Broad Bay was a small box-like room,
plain with no frills. Later in 1772, this meetinghouse was
abandoned. A larger church was built further up the river
on the east side. During the winter of 1794, a group of Lutherans,
dismayed at the growing influence of the English in the community,
dismantled the church, transferring it across the river on
the ice to the west side. Using sleds they took it piece by
piece up the steep slope to the present site. This land was
an original grant given by General Waldo to the settlers for
a school or church. Here in the spring of 1795 it was reassembled.
The interior was plain, the walls unpainted and rows of wooden
seats around the three walls. At a later date the walls were
first plastered then painted a soft grey while the wooden
seats were replaced with wooden box pews. A graceful wine-shaped
pulpit with a wooden, square-shaped sounding board was overhead.
At a still later date, there were two more additiions, a wood
stove and a parlor organ. The box pews were bought by families
who were given a deed similar to a property deed.

Colorful,
but unlettered pastors served in the pulpit until 1795 when
the Reverend Friedrich Augustus Rodolphus Benedictus Ritz
of the University of Halle, Germany, became the first regularly
ordained minister. At his death, the Reverend Johannes Wilhelm
Starman was installed in 1819 as the last minister of the
church. He was an able pastor, but the parish slowly declined
in number. This was due to the fact that the older Germans
successfully insisted that the word should be preached in
German. Meanwhile, the second generation became bi-lingual
and the third generation no longer spoke or understood the
German language. The language factor sealed the fate of the
ancient parish.

The church is now maintained as a local memorial by the German
Protestant Society. This lovely spot on the side of the hill
with the simple yellow church and its burial ground speak
eloquently of the past. The meetinghouse is quiet —
peaceful with a strength and dignity derived from those who
hewed its beams from the neighboring forests.

Waldoboro no longer teems with the industry of yesterday,
but it is by no means a "sleeping" town. There are
small businesses coming into the community. Waldoboro is a
delightful village in which to spend one's summer, or in which
to retire. The river is now used for boating. Those original
settlers must rest peacefully, happy in the knowledge of what
they accomplished.

You
will find a visit to 'THE OLD GERMAN CHURCH' in Waldoboro
most interesting and inspiring.